It’s 2022, y’all. 2021 is finally over.
Every year, a few things need to be updated throughout your website.
Don’t just check your homepage! Make sure every page gets updated.
Things to update…
The copyright year.
It’s usually in the footer of your website. Many templates and themes auto-update, but in case yours doesn’t, now is the time to change it to 2022.
Mentions of “next year” & other similar things.
Did you mention anything about next year, months, seasons, etc. meaning 2022, on your website? If you did, go in and change “next” to “this.” For example, saying you’ll be releasing something “next summer” but you mean summer 2022, that should now say “this summer.”
Years of experience, years in business, etc.
You may need to update the number any time you mentioned your years of experience or how many years you’ve been in business. If you count the years from specific dates, this likely isn’t the time to change those for you.
Check these things…
All of the links on your site.
Make sure all of your links still work! Especially if you’ve linked to other websites. Are those websites still live? Does the specific page you link to still exist? If you use Chrome, there’s an extension called “Check My Links” that you can run on each page of your site & it will alert you to any broken links.
When I say all links, I mean all of them – even ones linked to other pages on your own site. Make sure your navigation links (usually in the top and/or bottom of your website) still function correctly.
If you find any links that go to other websites, including links to your own social media profiles, make sure they open in a new tab so that your visitors aren’t taken completely off your site.
Back-end elements.
Themes, templates, plugins, widgets, apps, etc. Depending on what you used to build your website, this sort of element may be called different things. Make sure everything you use on your site is up-to-date! The more current everything is, the more secure your site is. Any elements installed on your site, even if you aren’t actively using them on your website, need to stay current. Without updating them, your site’s security weakens and that can open you up to hackers getting into your & your visitors’ data, or even taking over your site.
These may seem silly things to change, but keeping your site as up-to-date as possible will let your visitors – and Google! – know you’re still in business! Especially considering that 2020, 2021, and the pandemic, unfortunately, forced many businesses to close.
But what’s this have to do with Google? Updating your website shows Google that your site is relevant, active, and useful. Updates will give your site a little jolt for Google to notice you and include your site on the search result pages. Who doesn’t want to do everything they can to get their site listed easier/higher on search result pages… for free?!